The 60-day period during which the Senate could pass a resolution under the Congressional Review Act disapproving the CFPB’s final payday/auto title/high-rate installment loan rule (Payday Rule) with only a simple majority appears to have expired yesterday.  Although the Senate’s failure to pass a CRA resolution is disappointing because the CRA would have provided the “cleanest” vehicle for overturning the Payday Rule, we were always doubtful that there would be 51 votes in the Senate to pass a CRA resolution.

The focus of efforts to undo the Payday Rule will now be the CFPB’s reopened rulemaking and the Texas lawsuit filed by two trade groups challenging the Payday Rule.  In its Spring 2018 rulemaking agenda, the CFPB indicated that it expects to issue a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to revisit the Payday Rule in February 2019.

In the meanwhile, all eyes will be on the Texas lawsuit to see how the CFPB responds and, in particular, whether it will agree with most, if not all, of the plaintiffs’ allegations.  The CFPB must file its answer by June 11.